I just finished writing a kindle book on mastering productivity and just realised how many little tips and techniques I actually implement to keep me working the way I do.

I don’t work 8 hours a day. Not that I can’t, because I choose not to. Sometimes you do more by doing less and over time I’ve been able to find a healthy balance between my health, my hobbies, my family and my business.

This post is going to be on the importance of building momentum

We all have that task that we know we need to get done but for whatever reason just don’t want to make a start on it. It may be something as simple as going to the gym or meal prep. Whatever it is, thinking about the whole thing tires you out before you even make a start.

Everyone goes through that, even me. The only difference is I’ve found a way to get past that type of thinking.

Let’s look at the process of going to the gym for example. What tasks does this involve?

Wash up

Put on gym gear

Fill water bottle

Get your gym accessories, music, etc

Drive to gym

Finish work out

Drive home

Shower

Eat

Rest

It seems like a lot of work if we put it that way right?

Let me ask a question. Think about the answer in your head. How many times have you done number 2 on that list and NOT worked out? I can’t remember a single day in my gym career that I’ve changed into my gym clothes and haven’t gone to the gym. Why? Because your mind switches over to gym mode once you do it!

This means to achieve that goal of going to the gym, you have to just get to number 2 and your body will switch to auto-pilot gym mode.

This holds true for many things.

For my business it might be as simple as opening up a word document on my laptop and writing down 2 sentences. This will switch my brain from, ‘I really can’t be bothered doing this’ to ‘I feel like I can write more’. I’ve been able to consistently write 2,000 words a day for my kindle books for almost 6 weeks straight. Before that I was writing for my Teespring courses. Some days, I’ve been able to write 5,000 words!

The key here is momentum. It’s something that builds over time but for that momentum to start happening you have to give it a push at the start. Think of it like a big boulder. Once you’ve done the initial effort of pushing it, it will continue to roll. I’m not saying that steps 3 – 10 are easy on the above example but I am saying that your mind will start getting them done without thinking and complaining too much about them.

Whatever you need to do, do 1% of it at the start. Once you do that, your mind will adapt and start focusing in on the task at hand. Try not to be distracted by FaceBook, email etc. These things will only reset this momentum. Once you’re in work mode, stay there as long as you can.